Lock for egg carton cover

ABSTRACT

This invention is directed to an egg or similar type carton which includes a carton body and a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of the body opposite a bottom wall thereof. Each of the covers includes a pair of locking panels which are normally disposed in side-by-side relationship along a centerline of the carton body in a closed position of the covers. The locking panels are received in slots of upwardly directed posts, and bosses are formed from the material of the locking panels for engagement beneath associated edges of the slots to interlock the covers therewith in the closed position.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Richard P. French Chicago, Ill. [2]]Appl. No. 699,086 [22] Filed Jan. 19, 1968 [45] Patented May 25, 1971[73] Assignee Continental Can Company, Inc.

New York, N.Y.

[54] LOCK FOR EGG CARTON COVER 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 229/45, 229/44, 229/29, 229/2.5 [51] Int. Cl B65d 45 /00,B65d 1/00, 365d 5/48 [50] Field of Search ..229/15, 2.5, 29 (M), 44, 45

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,116,336 5/1938 Boeye229/44 2,466,579 4/1949 Cox 229/29(M)X 2,591,471 4/1952 Schwertfeger229/45 2,634,039 4/1953 Schwertfeger"... 229/15 2,994,468 8/1961 Georgeet al. 229/45 3,330,467 7/1967 Johnson 229/45 3,362,606 1/1968 Trimble229/2.5 3,215,326 11/1965 Despres 229/2.5 3,289,911 12/1966 Boyd et a1.229/2.5 2,093,280 9/1937 Koppleman 229/29(M) Primary Examiner-Davis T.Moorhead AttorneyDiller, Brown, Ramik & Holt ABSTRACT: This invention isdirected to an egg or similar type carton which includes a canon bodyand a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of the body oppositea bottom wall thereof. Each of the covers includes a pair of lockingpanels which are normally disposed in side-by-side relationship along acenterline of the carton body in a closed position of the covers. Thelocking panels are received in slots of upwardly directed posts, andbosses are formed from the material of the locking panels for engagementbeneath associated edges of the slots to interlock the covers therewithin the closed position.

PATENTED was INVENTOR RiCHARD P- FRENCH ATTORNEYS LOCK son EGG CARTONCOVER An object of this invention is to provide a novel carton having acarton body defined in part by a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and apair of end walls, cover means for opening and closing an end of thecarton body opposite the bottom wall, the cover means including alocking panel disposed generally normal to the bottom wall in a closedposition of the cover means, a portion of the locking panel beingreceived in slot means defined by a portion of the carton body, andmeans for interlockingly securing the locking panel portion within theslot means in the closed position of the cover means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel carton of thetype heretofore set forth wherein the carton body portion is a postprojecting upwardly from the bottom wall, the post has a terminal endwall, the slot means are formed in the terminal end wall of the post,and the interlocking means is a boss formed from the material of thelocking panel projecting generally normally out of the plane thereof andbeing positioned beneath the terminal end wall in the closed position ofthe cover means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel carton of thetype heretofore described wherein at least two covers are provided forclosing the carton body and each cover includes bosses of the typeheretofore set forth for cooperatively interlockingly securing each ofthe covers in the closed position thereof.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the carton of this invention, andillustrates two covers hinged to a carton body with one of the coversbeing interlocked in the closed position thereof.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1after the open cover has been closed, and illustrates bosses associatedwith each of a pair of locking panels of the covers in interlockingengagement with terminal wall portions of one of a plurality ofupstanding posts disposed along a centerline of the carton body.

'FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom view of the post of FIG. 2,and more clearly illustrates the interlocking engagement between thebosses and an end wall of the post.

The novel carton of this invention is generally designated by thereference numeral 10, and is an integral one-piece structure of a moldedpulp construction. The carton may, of course, be constructed from othermaterial, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, etc. The carton 10comprises a carton body generally referred to by the numeral 12 and apair of covers l3, 14.

The carton body 12 includes opposite end walls 15, 16, a pair ofsidewalls 17, 18 and a bottom wall 20 which is defined by a plurality ofindividual bottom wall portions 21. The carton body 12 is divided into aplurality of pairs of compartments 22 by longitudinal partition wallmeans 23 and a plurality of transverse partition wall means 24. Onecompartment 25 of the plurality of pairs of compartments 22 is disposedto one side of the longitudinal partition wall 23 while anothercompartment 26 of each of the pairs of compartments 22 is positioned atan opposite side of the longitudinal centerline of the carton body.

Means in the form of three identical upwardly directed hollow posts orbosses 35, 36 and 37 forming portions of the partition wall 23 functionto retain the covers 13, 14 in the closed position thereof, as will bemore readily apparent hereafter. The bosses 35 through 37 each includesidentical slot means or slots 31 which open through an associated upperterminal wall 33 of a reduced end portion 34 of each of the bosses 35through 37. Opposed edges (unnumbered) defining the slots 31 aredisposed in generally parallel relationship to each other and to a planetaken along the centerline of the carton substantially normal to thebottom wall 20.

The covers 13, 14 are generally identical and each includes a top panel39, a pair of side panels 40, 41, and end panels 42, 43. The panel 40 ofthe cover 14 is joined to the sidewall 17 of the carton body 12 along afold or hinge line 44 while the other panel 40 is joined to the wall 18along a similar fold or hinge line 45. In the closed position of thecovers 13, 14 (FIG. 2 and 3) the panels 41, 41 of the covers are inopposed sideby-side generally abutting relationship and are received inthe slots 31 of the bosses 35 through 37, as is best illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing. The slots 31 of the bosses 35 through 37thereby function to receive the panels 41, 41 in the closed positionthereof. Articles A such as eggs or similar products can be individuallypackaged in each of the compartments 25, 26 and are removed therefromsimply by opening the covers 13, 14 upon the hinging thereof about therespective fold lines 45, 44.

Interlocking means 50 are associated with each of the opposed side orlocking panels 41, 41 of the covers 13, 14 to interlock the covers inthe closed position thereof. The means 50 are identical and each is aprojection or boss formed from the material of its associated panel 41,41 and projecting outwardly from the plane thereof in a direction towardthe associated panels 40. That is, in the closed position of the covers13, 14 the projections are directed away from the longitudinalcenterline of the carton body with the projections associated with eachof the posts 35 through 37 being in generally transverse alignment anddisposed beneath and in interlocking engagement with the terminal walls33, as is best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing. Since thedistance D (FIG. 3) between the peaks of adjacent projections 50 isgreater than the width W of the slots 31 the introduction of the panels41 into the slots causes the terminal walls 33 to temporarily deform andwiden as the bosses pass through the slots toward the closed position ofthe covers. After the bosses 50 pass beyond the terminal walls 33 thelatter rebound under their natural resilience to the position bestillustrated in FIG. 2 at which the terminal end walls are disposed abovethe bosses and prevent the latter from inadvertently or accidentallymoving upwardly out of locking engagement.

However, upon purposeful opening of the covers the terminal end wallsreadily deform to permit the withdrawal of the panels 41, 41 and thesubsequent complete opening of the carton.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageousprovisions have been made for carrying out the desired end. However,attention is directed to the fact that variations may be made in thisinvention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Iclaim:

I. A carton comprising a carton body having a bottom wall, a pair ofsidewalls and apair of end walls, a pair of covers for opening andclosing an end of said carton body opposite said bottom wall, each ofsaid covers including a single ply locking panel disposed along acenterline of said carton body in a closed position of said covers withsaid locking panels being in generally side-by-side relationship in saidclosed position, said locking panels each having a free terminal edge,wall means disposed along the centerline of said carton body, slot meansformed in said wall means and receiving said locking panel in the closedposition, and means for interlockingly securing said locking panelswithin said slot means of said wall means in the closed position, saidinterlocking means being in the form of projections inboard of saidterminal edges and projecting normally out of the plane of said lockingpanels in frictional contacting engagement with said wall means in theclosed position of said carton, and said projections project towarddifferent ones of said sidewalls.

2. The carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means is a postprojecting upwardly from said bottom wall, said post has an upperterminal end wall, and said slot means are formed in said upper terminalend wall.

3. The carton as defined in claim 2 wherein said post is of a hollowconstruction and said slot means are formed completely through saidupper terminal end wall.

posite to the remaining boss of the same pair.

7. The carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said wall means is a postprojecting upwardly from'said bottom wall, said post has an upperterminal end wall, means defining a recess beneath said upper terminalend wall, and said hollow bosses being disposed in said recess meansbeneath said upper terminal end wall.

1. A carton comprising a carton body having a bottom wall, a pair ofsidewalls and a pair of end walls, a pair of covers for opening andclosing an end of said carton body opposite said bottom wall, each ofsaid covers including a single ply locking panel disposed along acenterline of said carton body in a closed position of said covers withsaid locking panels being in generally side-by-side relationship in saidclosed position, said locking panels each having a free terminal edge,wall means disposed along the centerline of said carton body, slot meansformed in said wall means and receiving said locking panel in the closedposition, and means for interlockingly securing said locking panelswithin said slot means of said wall means in the closed position, saidinterlocking means being in the form of projections inboard of saidterminal edges and projecting normally out of the plane of said lockingpanels in frictional contacting engagement with said wall means in theclosed position of said carton, and said projections project towarddifferent ones of said sidewalls.
 2. The carton as defined in claim 1wherein said wall means is a post projecting upwardly from said bottomwall, said post has an upper terminal end wall, and said slot means areformed in said upper terminal end wall.
 3. The carton as defined inclaim 2 wherein said post is of a hollow construction and said slotmeans are formed completely through said upper terminal end wall.
 4. Thecarton as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means is of a hollowconstruction and said slot means are formed completely through said wallmeans.
 5. The carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said projections arehollow bosses.
 6. The carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said hollowbosses are positioned in transversely adjacent pairs with a boss of eachpair being disposed to one side of said centerline opposite to theremaining boss of the same pair.
 7. The carton as defined in claim 5wherein said wall means is a post projecting upwardly from said bottomwall, said post has an upper terminal end wall, means defining a recessbeneath said upper terminal end wall, and said hollow bosses beingdisposed in said recess means beneath said upper terminal end wall.